Three Little Words
by Blue Deity
Summary: In need of a date for a policeman's ball, Phoenix decides to take Maya, he had no intention of falling in love, but he did


**Disclaimer:** I do not own the Ace Attorney Series or any of its characters. All elements belong to Capcom.

**Notes:** Well, its been awhile since my last P/M fic, but I've become inspired again and I want to write something. This is for Shizuka Ayasato who wanted me to write something new.

_**Three Little Words**_

It was all supposed to be simple. He hadn't meant for anything like this to happen, but it was Maya after all, why did he think anything could ever be simple when his plucky little assistant was involved. It had already been a half a year, but Phoenix remembered it like it was yesterday, Gumshoe had given him tickets to attend the annual policeman's ball and, just to show there was no hard feelings about how they were constantly on opposite sides when investigating a crime. The only thing was that the ball was a pretty formal affair and it pretty much required he come with a date. Luckily for Phoenix, he had a month to look for some lucky lady for him to bring on his arm, so, while Maya was watching TV or asleep or otherwise entertained, Phoenix was in his room calling numbers from **Larry's **black book and trying to find someone on an internet dating site, after all, he wasn't looking for the future Mrs. Wright, he just wanted someone to take to the ball.

Both of these ended up being fruitless though, why was it so hard to get a date when you're a successful, even somewhat famous lawyer. He even decided to give Franziska a call to see if she'd want to.

"You foolishly foolish fool! Why do you think I would waste my time at such a foolish event. Especially in the company of the prime fool himself!" She shrieked at him before hanging up the phone. He was just glad he didn't decide to go in person, he probably would never have recovered from the cracks to the face from her whip he would have gotten.

He did it about a week before he was going to be forced to humiliate himself by showing up at the dance hall by himself. He was just sitting on the couch with Maya, playing video, well **a **video game: Super Samurai Fighters 5, Maya's favourite, a game she never loses.

"Whoo whupped you again Nick!" She cheered, throwing her arms up in the air and grinning from ear to ear. "This is the best game _ever_."

"Yeah." Phoenix grunted. "And the **worst** sixty bucks I ever spent."

"Hmm. What was that Nick?" Maya asked with her eyes narrowed.

"Oh, oh, n-nothing!" He stammered.

"Nick, I've got really good hearing, big ears you know, and I could swear you're being a sore loser." She grinned waving her finger in front of his face. Phoenix simply rolled his eyes and sighed. "Wanna play again?" She asked excitedly grabbing her controller. "Let ya be the Pink Princess this time!"

"N-No that's alright." Phoenix stammered, putting his down, all the while wondering why they never play any of the games **he's** good at?

"Man Nick, you're no fun you know that?" Maya pouted. Phoenix chuckled and gave a little sigh.

"Hey Maya, I was wondering if you'd want to go to the policeman's ball with me?" Maya instantly dropped her controller and her face turned a bright red.

"R-Really Nick?"

"Well yeah why not?" He said shrugging. Maya seemed like she was frozen in her seat.

"Maya, are you..." Before Phoenix could finish his question, Maya had her arms around his neck in an instant.

"OhmyGod! I-I can't believe it!" She pulled away with a huge grin on her face. "'Bout time!" She said and gave him a playful punch in the arm.

"'Bout time for what?" Phoenix replied. Maya didn't say anything, just continued smiling before excitedly hopping up and running into her room. Phoenix stared at her as she headed up the stairs.

"Odd, odd girl." He sighed.

* * *

><p>Maya had been more excitable than usual for the rest of the week, the smile that formed on her face after he had asked her to go with him was on her face every time he lay eyes on her, and she seemed a lot lighter on her feet as she did her secretary stuff around the office. She just seemed happier and bouncier than before, and that was saying something.<p>

"If I knew that she wanted to go to the policeman's ball so bad, I would've asked her right away." He thought to himself as he watched her from her desk while she happily filed away some legal documents he left on his desk the night before. "Hey Maya." He called, she quickly turned to face him, holding the remaining papers to her chest.

"Yeah Nick!" She chirped. He couldn't help but smile back at her, her enthusiasm was infectious.

"Just wondering what you were going to wear to the ball tomorrow?"

"Well thought I'd just wear this." She answered, subconsciously pulling on the hem of her acolyte's robe.

"Oh, okay." He replied. All at once Maya's face fell.

"Wh-why? Y-you think I should wear something fancier?"

"N-No." Phoenix stammered. "Of course not-of course not!" Waving his hands in front of himself. "It's not like it's a big fancy dance or anything. **I'm **only wearing my blue suit." Maya's smile came back.

"Oh Good! You look great in it."

"Y-Yeah. Th-thanks Maya." He answered. Suddenly, Maya was leaning over his desk.

"Hey, I wonder if Gumshoe's gonna wear his trenchcoat."

"Probably." Phoenix shrugged. "Like I said, it's no big deal what you wear, it's just a policeman's ball."

"Gonna be a load of fun though." She beamed. Maya picked up her papers which she had lain on the desk and bounced back to the filing cabinet. "Hey Nick." She called over her shoulder.

"Yeah Maya?"

"Thanks for asking me."

"No problem Maya."

* * *

><p>The ball was a great time, the way Maya's eyes lit up when she saw that there was a barbecue stationed outside the hall <em>and<em> that they had someone there grilling delicious burgers nonstop brought a smile to Phoenix's face, always nice to see her happy. Gumshoe was the only person there they recognised, so they pretty much hung around with the lovable goof all night.

"Glad you could make it pal." Gumshoe grinned. As they all sat around a table inside and Maya happily began to devour the burgers she brought from the barbecue.

"Yeah I am too." Phoenix said looking around, absent-mindedly cutting the pork chop he brought with him. "Hmph strange Edgeworth's not here."

"Oh yeah, heh, heh." Gumshoe chuckled. "Well he had a ticket, but you know Mr. Edgeworth." He shrugged.

"Yeah, probably got his head in the books or something." Phoenix laughed. Just then, Maya's head perked up.

"You hear that Nick?" She asked.

"Uhhh..."

"It's my favourite song!" She exclaimed. Phoenix strained to hear the low music coming from the cheap speakers mounted sparsely throughout the hall, but eventually he did hear it, it was a dancy pop song that Maya always seemed to have playing on her I-Pod, he didn't have a clue who sung it or what it was called, but he had to admit it was kinda catchy. Maya **devoured** what was left of her burgers and grabbed Phoenix's arm with her ketchup covered hands.

"May-?"

"C'mon Nick? Let's dance!"

"Huh?" Without another word, Maya dragged Nick out into an area that had been cleared out as a makeshift dance floor. Phoenix couldn't help but notice everyone was looking at them as he tried to keep up with his assistant's hyper movements. The girl was more jumping around than doing any actual dancing, but the broad smile on her face as she _tried_ to dance and the little laughs she sent him as he _tried_ the same told him she was having a good time, and that was fine by him.

After the ball was over, Phoenix and Maya returned to the office/apartment for the night.

"That was a lot of fun Nick!" Maya beamed as they stepped inside.

"Yeah, I enjoyed myself too." Phoenix smiled as he stepped ahead of her and plunked down on the couch, loosening his tie and giving a tired sigh. Maya happily bounced in front of him.

"Soooo Nick, where are we going on out next date?" Phoenix's eyes bulged open.

"D-date?" Maya plunked down beside him.

"Man Nick, I had a crush on you for soo-ooo long. I couldn't believe when you asked me out." She explained. He was really surprised, he hadn't a clue that Maya had been harbouring feelings for him, and he certainly didn't think that she might have been thinking this trip to the ball was a date.

"M-Maya?"

"Oh man, I'm being stupid, we've got lots of time to figure out stuff like that." She grinned happily. She let out a big yawn before leaning over and giving him a kiss on the mouth. "I'm bushed, 'Night Nick!" And with that she bounded merrily up the stairs to her room. Stunned, Phoenix absent-mindedly brushed his fingers along his lips.

"Maya?" He repeated.

* * *

><p>Phoenix agreed to take Maya out again that following weekend, they went out to dinner again, this time at a Maya's favourite burger joint, the week after that they went to a play, the week after that, a concert, this continued for several more weeks until it was official, Maya was his <strong>girlfriend<strong>. He was actually kind of surprised with himself when he figured the became official, Maya was the closest person to him after all, his best friend, of course she made the perfect girlfriend. But this lead to another problem, yes, Maya was his girlfriend, they had lots of fun together, but his feelings for her were becoming more and more intense all the time, to the point where he was starting to believe he was in love with her. He had to stop himself several times from telling her, she was nineteen after all, and there was no way she's want something **that **serious. And that was the situation he found himself in, all he wanted was someone to take to the policeman's ball so he wouldn't look like a complete dork in front of Gumshoe, now he was hopelessly in love with a young woman that consumed all his thoughts and he was afraid to tell her.

* * *

><p>It was a nice day, kind of ordinary, Maya had dragged Phoenix to this activity thing she heard about on television for the day. It was supposed to be charity for a children's hospital and Maya had <em>insisted<em> that this be what they do for their date this week. So, there they stood in the small baseball field,surrounded by a few teenagers and mostly young children.

"They advertised this during the Pink Princess didn't they." Phoenix grumbled into Maya's ear.

"Yeah Nick, how'd ya guess." She chirped. Luckily there were a few more adults there, mostly parents Phoenix guessed, so he wasn't completely mortified, and besides there wasn't anyone there who would know him anyway.

"Hey Nick!" On second thought...

Phoenix slowly looked over his shoulder to find his 'bestest buddy' in the whole wide world, Larry Butz, sauntering up to him, that goofy grin of his plastered on his face.

"Hi Larry. " Phoenix deadpanned.

"Hey Nick." Larry repeated.

"Hi Larry, what are you doing here?"

"Glad you asked?" He exclaimed, sticking a thumbs up in Phoenix's face. "Gotta brand new girl, sweetest thing under the sun. She asked me down here to help out with this charity thing."

"Larry do you even know what this 'charity thing' is for?" Phoenix asked, already knowing the answer.

"Y-Yeah, of course! It's for...it's for...ummmm." Larry sputtered, sweat forming on his face

"Childre..." Phoenix started

"The Children's Hospital!" Larry exclaimed. "Y-Yeah the children's hospital!" Larry said triumphantly. "Of course I knew it. You really gotta have more faith in me Nick." Phoenix gave a long inward sigh. "Well gotta go Nick, see ya later! Say bye to Maya for me!" Larry called walking off.

"Huh? Why can't you just say..." Phoenix glanced to his side to find his diminutive lady love was gone, he didn't need to wonder where she was for long though, because she soon came bounding back carrying a couple of hot dogs she got from one of the booths around the grounds. "Maya, where'd...?"

"Well I figured you'd be talking with Larry for awhile, and since old guy talk is boring, I thought I'd go grab a bite to eat and sign us up for some stuff." She beamed, stuffing one of the hot dogs into her mouth.

"What kind or events?" Phoenix asked warily.

"Well, there wasn't a whole lot to pick from, so I just signed us up for the three-legged race."

"Oh that's not so bad." He sighed with relief.

"Yeah, well let's go." She grabbed his wrist again and started pulling him towards the starting line of the track that ran around the field.

"It's starting **now**!" Phoenix shouted.

"Yeah" Maya said over her shoulder as if it was the dumbest question she had ever heard.

"W-Wait, d-don't we need some prep time?"

"God, Nick, you're not that old yet. C'mon it's gonna be fun!"

Within a few moments, Phoenix and Maya's ankles were tied together and they were standing at the starting line with several other pairs of contestants, including Larry and his girlfriend of the week whose name, Phoenix was just realising Larry hadn't even told him her name. Before, with everyone lined up who was participating, the master of ceremonies signalled the start of the race and the pairs took off.

"See ya later Nick!" Larry called as he and his 'girlfriend' sprinted off in front of them. It didn't tale long for the other teams to follow suite as Phoenix and Maya found themselves dead last before they got to the first turn.

"What's wrong Nick? Why ar- why are you being so slow?" Maya demanded.

"I told-I told you w-we should of taken a minute to warm up!" He said out of breath. He could see Maya roll her eyes before she looked up at him and smiled.

"Well you better get the lead out old man, or I'm not gonna love you anymore."

"L-Love?" Startled, Phoenix tripped over his own feet, stumbled and feel into the dust, taking Maya with him.

"M-Maya, you okay?" He asked as he pulled himself off his own face and sat on the ground.

"Yeah I'm okay. Well looks like this race is a bust." she sighed and plunked down next to him. "It was fun while it lasted though." Maya looked to him. "Hey Nick you okay?" She asked, he hadn't realised it, but he was **staring** at her, it was that word, love, she was only saying it for a joke, he could tell, but...

"Oh, Nick, you're cheeks cut." She casually wiped the trickle of blood he could now feel on his face away with the sleeve of her robe, then she gave him a quick kiss on the other cheek. "Feel better?" Phoenix simply stared at her harder, completely entranced by both the young woman and the warm, **loving** action she had just performed.

"M-Maya, I-I love you." He blurted aloud, despite himself. Maya froze for a brief second. Phoenix's heart wrenched, it was a mistake to say that, a mistake to take that plunge, they'd only been dating for a few weeks. But, why did it feel so right to just out and say it, even if it was really soon? Maya's eyes started to water.

"Ohh Nick" She squealed before wrapping her arms tight around his neck and giving him the biggest kiss she could muster. "What took you so long to tell me?" She demanded after she pulled away.

"You love me?" He said, his breath shallow. Maya gave him a quick punch in the chest, a punch filled with her apparent frustration.

"Of course you big dummy!" She shouted. Phoenix smiled to himself and silently cursed his stupidity, before drawing her in for another, loving kiss.

**END**


End file.
